


I Had a One-Way Ticket to the Place Where All the Demons Go

by wearetheluckyones



Series: I Was Born In A Thunderstorm [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Fluff and Angst, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Kind Of Explicit, Long Shot, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Minor Liam Payne/Harry Styles, Mpreg, Murder, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:33:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14827193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearetheluckyones/pseuds/wearetheluckyones
Summary: Six months following the death of drug lord Jackson Tierney, someone’s taken over his organization and is killing their way up the food chain.





	I Had a One-Way Ticket to the Place Where All the Demons Go

**Author's Note:**

> Part two of I Was Born in a Thunderstorm. Not really stand alone, but you can give it a bloody good try.
> 
> Title from Alive by Sia.

It’s still dark when Niall wakes, pulse racing in his blood, breath coming in fast, short beats. Louis’s still asleep in the bed next to him, and his presence helps calm him, makes him feel safer.

Niall flips the duvet off his body and slides out of bed, walking over to the cot in the corner of the room. Louise is awake, but she hasn’t started to cry, perfectly content to sit and play with the teddy bear Harry had given her when she was born. 

“Hey, leanbh.” Niall greets, sitting on the arm of the feeding chair and leaning his forearms on the side of the cot, chin resting on the back of his hand. Louise drops her teddy bear and shuffles over to Niall, pulling herself up on wobbly, chubby legs, hands grasping at Niall’s arms to hold herself up and press her forehead to his. She’s picked it up from watching Niall and Louis do it, and it makes Niall’s heart burst every time she does it. “Love you, too, leanbh.”

They stay there like that for a few moments, foreheads pressed together, before Louise can’t stand any longer, falling onto her bum on the cot mattress. She doesn’t cry, he doesn’t think it hurt her, but she does frown up at Niall.

“Come on, Lou-Lou, it’s alright.” Niall says, pulling her out of the cot and into his arms, sliding back into the chair, sitting her in his lap. She still doesn’t cry, she very rarely does, only when she’s too hungry to do anything _but_ cry. “You are such a good girl, aren’t you?” He rocks the chair back and forth gently, holding her hands in his. “You hungry, leanbh? Or just wide awake?”

She stares up at him and makes a series of noises, like she’s trying to answer.

He puts the tip of his pinkie finger over her bottom lip, and when she doesn’t try to suck it in, he decides she’s just wide awake.

“Alright, darling.” Niall holds her against his chest, humming a random tune as he rocks the chair back and forth, closing his eyes. She nuzzles into him, and Niall can feel the tickle of her hair and the flutter of her eyelashes against his skin. She smells good, better than the normal baby smell, and Niall thinks Harry used the coconut body wash on her again when he was giving her a bath. He runs his fingers down her back, and she nuzzles further into him.

Across the room, Niall sees Louis roll onto his side and slide his hand in the sheets, looking for Niall. When he can’t find him, he sits up in a rush, rubbing at his eyes. “Niall?”

Niall doesn’t open his eyes. “I’m here.”

“You okay?” Louis asks, voice gruff from sleep. “D’you have another nightmare?” If Louise had been crying, Louis would have woken up with Niall.

“Yeah.”

Niall blinks his eyes open and watches Louis crawl out of the bed and walk over to him, sitting on the floor by Niall’s feet, resting his cheek on Niall’s bad knee. “D’you wanna talk about it?” He asks sleepily, reaching up to rest his arm over Niall’s leg, taking Louise’s tiny hand in his.

Niall doesn’t want to tell him, not particularly, but he made Louis a promise to always talk to him. “It was just one of the ones where he takes her from my belly and kills you.”

Louis’s free hand curls around Niall’s knee, squeezing it comfortingly, and he says, “He’s dead, pet, he can’t hurt either of you. And he certainly can’t kill me. You’re okay.”

Niall frees up one of his hands and runs the fingers of it through Louis’s sleep-messy hair. Louis leans into it. “I know. I know.”

They sit there in silence for a long time before Louis says, “C’mon, we can’t sleep like this, put her back in her cot and come to bed.” He places a gentle kiss to Niall’s knee and pushes himself to his feet, joints cracking, before he makes his way back to the bed.

Louise is back asleep, and she goes into her cot easily. Niall touches his thumb to the birthmark on her shoulder, careful not to wake her up, before he goes back to the bed.

He climbs in under Louis’s arm and kisses him, gentle and chaste. Louis brushes their noses together, then presses his forehead against Niall’s, breath warm on Niall’s cheek. 

Suddenly, Louis’s kissing Niall again, and pulling him on top of himself, and Niall laughs breathlessly. “I thought we were having a moment.”

Louis grins up at him wolfishly.

“It’s the middle of the night, and we’ve got a meeting with that military guy in the morning.” Niall says between kisses.

“Is that a no?”

Niall stares down at Louis, taking in the pink of his cheeks and the way his tattoos sit stark on his skin. He’s gotten quite a few new ones since Niall met him, but Niall’s favourite is the one over Louis’s ribs, hidden under Louis’s arm, with Louise’s name in Niall’s hand writing. He’d gotten it without telling Niall, and Niall had cried when he’d seen it. 

“No.” 

He surges down to kiss Louis, licking into his mouth, and Louis rolls them over so he’s on top.

“I really love you, yeah?” Louis says, when they part to take a breath.

Niall traces his fingers over the skin of Louis’s face, like he’s mapping it in his mind. “I love you, too.”

-*-*-

Niall misses Louise terribly. He only saw her two hours ago, and the deal with the private military company is almost done, but he wants to be back with her already.

One of the leaders, a man Niall only knows as _Hawk_ (how pretentious), is taking apart one of the Smith  & Wesson M&Ps, inspecting it carefully. Niall’s gotten a weird vibe from him since the day they met, almost five months ago, but he’s learnt since then that it’s just his _probably-a-psycopath-but-an-efficent-psycopath-who’s-good-at-what-he-does_ vibe.

“Well?” Louis asks, arms crossed over his chest.

They’d lifted the guns from a trafficker who was going to sell them to another military contractor who planned to take them into Iraq, but Louis trusted these guys enough not to put them into the hands of people who killed thousands of innocents, so Niall trusted them.

Well, not really.

“One.” The leader replies, putting the gun back together.

“Two and a half.”

“One and a half.”

“Two, or these go to RMPW.” 

The leader looks down at the gun in his hands, face contemplative, before he finally nods. “Two mil.” He puts the gun back in its place in the box and shuts the lid, taking a briefcase from one of his men and setting it on top, opening it to show Louis and Niall.

Niall steps forward, lifting each stack of bills, inspecting them, and putting them back in. He checks there isn’t explosives underneath, and counts the money in his head.

“You’re missing a twenty.” He says. He’s good at this, good with the counting and the money.

The leader nods at one of his men, and they produce a stack of twenty thousand pounds from a bag wrapped in a rubber band. “Had to see if you were as good as they say.”

Niall doesn’t reply, moving the money from the briefcase to the duffle over his shoulder, going through his last check as he does. The contractor is clearly surprised. He must have suspected them to be stupid enough to take the case with them. Maybe Louis’s always been taking the cases.

“Take your guns.” Louis says, accepting the bag from Niall. “If we find them with anyone they shouldn’t be with-“

“Understood.” The leader replies, nodding his head. He waves his hand, and the box is rolled away by two of his men. He turns and starts to walk away, towards the four jeeps. He pauses and turns his head, says, “I thought you might like to know that someone’s trying to take over what’s left of Tierney’s organization.”

Niall’s heart stops, but he tries not to let it show on his face. “Who?”

“I do not know, I do, however know that Henry Marcus and Arthur Richter are dead.”

Niall remembers Marcus and Richter, two of Tierney’s men who’d gotten out of punishment. Richter had been gathering more men, probably to take over Louis’s businesses as payback, but he’d gotten nowhere so far. Whoever this was had obviously decided he’d do a better job at taking over.

“Let us know if you hear anything else.” Louis says, so Niall doesn’t have to speak.

The other man nods once, and finally he leaves, taking his men with him.

In the car, Niall does his last check of the money, flicking through the bills as his heart beats hard in his chest.

“Niall?” Louis asks from the seat next to Niall, comforting hand on Niall’s knee.

“Fine.” Niall replies, sort of snappy, putting the money back in the bag.

“Niall.”

Niall sighs, and puts the bag down by his feet, turning to Louis and apologising. “I’m not fine, but I know Tierney’s worst are locked up or dead.” He sighs again, and whispers, “I need her.”

“I know.” Louis replies, squeezing Niall’s knee again. “I know.”

The leave the money in the safe of one of their cover businesses instead of taking it back to the house, and when they get there, Niall rushes in, taking Louise from Harry gladly.

“God, I missed you.”

-*-*-

Niall must’ve fallen asleep on the couch in the television room when he was feeding Louise, because when he opens his eyes, Louis is in front of him, holding the list of names Niall had written, people that might want to take over Tierney’s outfit.

“What’s the list for?” Louis asks, sitting on the couch, body turned towards Niall.

Niall picks the bottle up from where it must have dropped from his hand and puts it on the table beside the couch. It’s empty, and he’s glad he didn’t fall asleep before he finished feeding Louise. She’s still asleep, curled against his chest with her head tucked into his neck, and Niall moves her to the other side. “A list of people who might want to take over the business, people who are powerful enough. The first few names are people in Tierney’s organization, some are others who tried to take over before.”

“Sean Tierney?”

Niall nods. “Tierney’s first born son. He’s young, eighteen I think, but you never know.”

“How did I never know he had a son?” Louis asks, frowning down at Niall’s list.

“No one did. I only know because he came to the house once, a couple years ago, in the middle of the night.” Niall replies, carefully handing Louise over to Louis when he holds his hands out for her. Niall twists his arms, wrists, back and neck until they all crack, then settles back into the couch and continues. “His mother was killed when he was only a few years old, by a rival drug lord. Tierney sent him to a boarding school in Shropshire, and he came back when something happened with another boy at the school. I’m not sure what exactly, but I think he got hurt, this other boy. Badly. Sean had a temper.” He hums and threads his fingers through Louis’s hair. “Tierney hit him around a bit, paid off the family, and sent Sean to another school in Surrey. I called the school when Tierney died and found out Sean had left. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

“It’s alright pet.” Louis replies, kissing Niall’s palm and nodding his head. “Do you know where he might have gone?”

“Ireland. Tierney had a cousin, Sean’s only living relative. That’s where I’d go.”

“Do you know where exactly?”

Niall sighs, taking his hand back, leaning it over the back of the couch. “Yeah, Mullingar, my hometown. It’s how Tierney and I bonded.”

Louis nods his understanding. “We’ll have to go then. We need to make sure it isn’t him. And if it isn’t him, he’ll need protection. I don’t believe this man will let the son of man who ran the organization he’s trying to take over go.”

“I…” Niall wants to argue, he doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t want to see his family, but he also does, just not right now. “Alright. We’ll take Louise. My family should meet her.”

Louis nods. “I’ll speak to Liam, Harry and Caroline in the morning. We should get to bed.”

-*-*-

They take a cargo ship to Galway, because they can’t risk the authorities finding them with a car full of criminals with guns. The captain of the cargo ship works with Louis, finding trafficked humans and taking them home. Niall’s only worked with him once, but he seems like an alright guy.

It takes just over seventeen, and Louise fusses the whole time. By the time they pull into the private shipping yard, it’s almost three in the morning and Niall’s so stressed and exhausted he wants to throw something at someone. Preferably Louis. He’s beginning to piss Niall off.

They stay in a safe house in the outskirts of Galway so they can get a few hours of sleep, before starting the hour and a half drive to Mullingar.

“Are you going to be alright?” Louis asks, when they get close. Niall’s heart is beating out of his chest, and the only thig that’s keeping him calm enough that he’s not shaking is Louis and Louise being so close.

“Yeah. Just… nervous. It’s been almost ten years since I last saw my family. They don’t know what I’ve done. What I’m still doing.” Niall replies, nodding his head, taking the hand Louis holds out to him. They rest them in Louise’s lap, and like she knows he needs the comfort, she wraps her tiny hands around their fists.

“It’ll be alright, pet. You’ll see.”

“And you’re still alright with telling them Louise is yours?”

Louis nods, then chuckles. “They’re gonna wonder about the name, but of course I am.”

Niall directs their driver from the cathedral to his childhood home. 

There’s two cars in the driveway, and Niall decides if his da still lives here, he’s home, as well as someone else. Niall hopes his da has a girlfriend or a wife, he’d been alone for so long.

“Park around the side,” Niall instructs the driver, checking his gun’s loaded, strapping his shoulder holster over his chest before pulling on his jacket. He turns to Louis and says, “Wait here with Louise. Let me talk to them first. I’ll message you.”

Louis nods, and presses their foreheads together, before letting him climb out of the car.

He zips up his jacket – it’s oversized and hides the gun and the holster well – before crossing the road and watching the car park around the corner.

His heart’s pounding in his chest, and he’s sweating, he wants to walk back to the car and leave, deal with Tierney’s kid and go home without seeing his da and his brother, but he knows he can’t. He can’t pretend he wasn’t here.

The woman who opens the door is in her late twenties, early thirties and blonde, taller than Niall by almost a foot and really, really pretty.

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if Bobby Horan still lives here.” Niall asks, voice so soft he’s sure she has trouble hearing him at first.

“He’s in the kitchen.” She says. She looks suspicious, and a little confused, and then she says, “I’ll go get him, shall I?”

She shuts the door behind him, and he steps off the doorstep, staring out at the front garden. Niall’s da was never very good at gardening, and the place is beautiful, so someone’s been doing it.

The door opens again, and when Niall turns around, his da’s there, holding open the screen, looking ten years older and a little worse for ware.

“Fuck.” His da says, climbing off the doorstep, door banging behind him. “Fuck.”

Niall suddenly remembers where he got his bad mouth from. “Hey, da.”

-*-*-

He gets herded inside, into the kitchen. Everything looks the same as when he left. The sunny yellow of the walls, the wooden cupboards, everything.

His brother’s there, too, as well as two women and a young boy. After a bone crushing hug from Greg, Niall learns that the older woman is his da’s girlfriend Aria, the younger woman is Greg’s wife, Denise, and the boy is Greg and Denise’s son, Theo.

“God, I missed you guys so much.” He tells his da, hugging him again, breathing at his neck, memorising the way he feels. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to come back.”

“It doesn’t matter kid, doesn’t matter anymore, just glad you’re here.”

Niall accepts Aria’s offer of a cuppa, and Niall remembers the car waiting from his around the block.

“Wait, there’s someone you should meet.” Niall says, pulling out his phone, sending Louis a _ready_.

“Who is it?” Greg pokes, grinning. God, Niall missed that grin. “You got a boyfriend?”

Niall grins and nods, just as the doorbell rings. “Wait here.” He goes to the front door and lets Louis in, taking Louise into his arms.

“Da, Greg, this is Louise.” He says first. Louise is sleepy and shy, and she hides her face in Niall’s neck while Louis stands in the doorway behind him.

“I got another grankid?” His da asks. His eyes are shinning, and Niall tries to coax Louise out of his neck so his da can properly meet her.

“Hey, leanbh, this is your pop.” Niall says, rubbing his thumb over her cheek bone until she looks out at the rest of the room. “This is your pop.”

She looks over at him, curious, then at the other occupants of the room. She makes sure Louis’s still there, before she lets Niall’s da take her into his arms.

“Hey, darling. Aren’t you just the prettiest thing? Got your da’s eyes.”

Niall reaches back for Louis, and Louis steps forward, takes his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “This is Louis.”

Niall’s da and his brother shake Louis’s hand, and then they’re invited to sit in the lounge room with their tea.

Niall’s da refuses to let go of Louise, and Louise seems to be having the same reaction, staring up at him with eyes wide as saucers. Theo hangs about Louis and Niall. He seems like an outgoing kid, like Niall and Greg were when they were his age, but he doesn’t say much, he’s just curious.

Niall tells his family what he’s been up to as best he can without going into too much detail, glossing over the last nine or ten months with Louis. His dad and brother know about Tierney, Niall had been on the news a few times, and he’d spoken to his da once on the phone, but he doesn’t want them to know about what he and Louis do just yet.

“We live in London at the moment, and we’re just here looking for a friend we think might be in trouble.” Niall replies, when his sister-in-law asks if they’re moving back to Mullingar.

“Who?” Greg asks, letting Theo climbed into his lap.

“He’s a friend’s kid, Sean. His dad died a few months ago and he ran away from his school. We think he might have come here, to stay with his uncle.”

“You aren’t talking about Sean O’Connelly, are you?” Denise asks, frowning over at Niall and Louis. Niall blinks at Louis. “He moved into his uncle’s six or seven months ago, they live next door to one of my girlfriends, he said his dad died. I felt sorry for the kid, got him a job at the restaurant where I work.”

“Does he have black hair? And green eyes? Rather handsome?” Niall asks her. 

“Yeah.” Denise says. “I can take you to him if you like?”

“You could? That’d be great, thank you.” Niall says.

“Finish your teas first.” Niall’s da says. He’s sorta frantic, like he doesn’t want Niall to leave. Niall doesn’t want to leave either, but he has to. “Will you come back before you leave for London?”

Niall smiles softly and nods. “I will. And I’ll come back again, I promise.”

-*-*-

Denise takes Niall and Louis to a house ten minutes from Niall’s da’s, a big place with a black door and a couple cars in the driveway. Louis stays back in the car with Louise and their men, while Niall knocks on the door and waits.

Sean answers it, and his face goes pale when he sees who’s behind it.

“Sean, it’s alright, I’m here to help.” Niall says, stopping the boy from closing the door. He looks exactly as Niall remembers, except he’s finally grown into his height and his puppy fat, and he’s gotten pretty bloody handsome. He looks exactly like his dad. It’s a little freaky. “I think someone might be after you, trying to take over your dad’s business. I think they might kill you.”

Sean’s face falls, and he lets Niall into the house.

“Are you serious?” He asks, running his hands over his face, falling into an armchair. “Dad’s dead and he’s still fucking my life up.”

“We can protect you.”

“We?” Sean asks, frowning up at Niall, letting his hands fall into his lap. “Who’s we?”

Niall doesn’t know if Sean ever heard about Louis, but he doesn’t want to take the chance Sean will freak out before Niall can get him safe. “People who can keep you safe. There’s…” Niall runs his hand over his face. “There’s also someone you should meet.”

“Who?”

“Will you come with me?”

Sean doesn’t say anything for a long time, just stares down at his hands, thinking, before he finally nods. “Let me pack some stuff and write my uncle a letter, okay?”

Niall agrees, and helps him pack clothes, shoes and some other personals.

“Not your laptop, or your phone. We don’t know if they can track you, I promise you we’ll get you another.”

Sean nods his agreement and finishes his packing before writing a quick note to his uncle, telling him he’s going back to London, but he’ll be safe, and he’ll call him when he can. He leaves the letter on the kitchen table and follows Niall out to the car.

“Sean, this is Louis.” Niall introduces when he lets Sean into the car. He doesn’t instantly freak out, so he either doesn’t know who Louis is, or he doesn’t care.

Niall waits until the door’s closed and Sean’s buckled before he wraps his arm around the car seat Louise is sitting in, and says, “And this is Louise. She’s your sister.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.” Sean says, then apologises for swearing.

“It’s alright, kid.” Louis says. “We say worse than that in front of her, and she’s asleep.”

“So, she’s dads? And you’re a breeder?” Sean asks.

“A little insensitive,” Niall says, wincing as the car begins to move. “But yes, she’s your half-sister.”

“Shit.” Sean says. “Shit, man. I have a sister.”

“She’ll be awake in a bit. You can meet her properly, then. For now,” He says the next bit to Louis, and the men in the front and passenger seats. “Go back to my da’s so I can say goodbye.”

-*-*-

A week after the bringing Sean back from Ireland, Niall wakes up in the middle of the night to see Sean in the bedroom, sitting in the feeding chair with Louise in his arms. He looks like he’s been crying. He might still be crying.

“Sean?” Niall asks softly, untangling himself from Louis and sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. “Are you alright, love?”

Sean wipes his eyes hurriedly and gives Niall a weak smile. “I’m fine, sorry, she was awake.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind.” Niall replies, climbing out of bed and walking over to Sean and Louise. Louise is asleep, but Niall’s unsure whether she was always asleep, or Sean got her back to sleep. “I have them too, sometimes.”

“What?” Sean asks, though he has to know Niall knows he’s deflecting.

“I shot someone once. I only got him in the shoulder, but I wanted to kill him.” Niall says, sitting on the carpet, back against the chest of drawers. “Some of my nightmares, they come from that, but most–”

“My dad.” Sean says, voice so low, Niall almost doesn’t hear it. “He killed my mum.”

Niall stares up at Sean in shock.

“You weren’t the only one he abused.” Sean says, sliding his fingers through Louise’s short, thick black hair, a single tear sliding down his cheek. “My mum mostly protected me when she was alive, but when she died he started on me real bad. My uncle made him send me to boarding school when he found out, but he didn’t stop him. Every time I went home he started on me again, until I just stopped coming home.” Sean wipes his cheeks, takes a deep, calming breath and continues. “Until the night I first met you, when I came home after I’d gotten into a fight with a kid at school. Neither of us told anyone what the fight was really about. He was a friend of mine once, and he was under the suspicion my dad had killed my mum. He was just trying to help me and I beat him so bad he can’t hear in one of his ears anymore. I got suspicious though, and I did some asking around. I wasn’t sure though, not until my uncle got drunk a few weeks after I got here and told me. He made my uncle help him with the body. They haven’t identified her yet, but she was in the junkyard. That’s why he left for Ireland.”

“I’m so sorry, Sean.”

Sean wipes his face and shakes his head, smiling in a way that doesn’t reach his eyes. “It’s all over, and he’s dead in the ground, can’t do anything to any of us anymore.”

“He can’t.” Niall agrees, nodding his head. “Pop her back in her cot and we can go have a cup of tea.”

“D’you mind if I… hold onto her a little longer?”

Niall smiles gently and nods. “Yeah, love, bring her with us, she might be hungry soon.”

He helps Sean stand, careful not jostle Louise too much, and they head down to the kitchen for some tea.

-*-*-

They pick up the dealer they got from Tierney’s organization after he died a few days later. Niall worries he might be killed for leaving, and others share the concern. 

The house is starting to feel cramped, but Zayn and Sean get on like a house on fire, and Liam and Harry have been out a lot on business, so it hasn’t been too bad.

Niall’s glad Zayn and Sean are getting along, but they smoke an ounce in just over a week between them (an ounce Niall technically pays for – sort of), and Niall feels sorta responsible for them both, so he has to give them a bit of a telling off.

“Seven is too many in one house.” Niall says, letting himself into Louis’s office after he’s sent the boys off (probably to smoke another fucking eighth), shutting the door behind him. “I might actually kill everyone. ‘Cept you and Louise. That’s it. We can run off to Spain.”

Louis shuts his laptop and sits back in his chair, smiling softly at Niall, eyes crinkling in the corners. “Maybe Barbados.”

“Or Thailand.” Niall continues, circling Louis’s desk and pushing his chair back, climbing into his lap.

“Australia.” Louis says, curling his arms around Niall’s hips.

“Tahiti.” Niall replies, snaking his arms over Louis’s shoulders, clasping his hands behind his neck. 

Louis goes to speak again, but Niall cuts him off, pressing his mouth to Louis’s. He tastes bitter, like tea, and sweet, like something Niall can’t name, and he wants more.

“You know what you should do?” Niall asks when Louis latches his mouth over Niall’s throat, sucking a purple mark into his skin. “You should fuck me over the desk. Thought about a couple times.”

Louis chuckles. He’s still at Niall’s throat, and Niall’s cock is starting to take an interest. “Have you?”

“Mm hmm.” Niall replies, eyes slipping shut as Louis sucks another mark into his skin.

“What else have you thought about?” Louis asks, getting his hands under Niall’s shirt, sliding them over his back. He’s got this look in his eyes. Fuck, Niall can’t think.

“Besides the desk?” Niall asks, sliding his hand in the hair at the nape of Louis’s neck. “The back seat of the Audi. The hood of Romero. The Harley – a lot of my fantasies involve the contents of the garage.”

Louis laughs. “I think we can swing the Audi and the Romero, but lord knows Harry will remove my balls if I touch his Harley. Besides, I’m pretty sure and Liam have already been there, and I’d rather not go there, too.”

Niall kisses him quiet, licking into his mouth. “Clear the desk.” He instructs Louis when they break for air. 

Niall climbs out of Louis’s lap again and starts undressing while Louis clears the desk of his laptop, papers and stationary. When it’s clear and Niall’s down to his briefs, Niall starts undressing Louis between kisses.

“Over the desk, or on top?” Louis asks, toeing off his boots.

Niall’s a little too flustered to answer, or even understand what the fuck Louis’s saying, so he just mumbles, “Huh?”

“Over the desk, like on your front, or on top, on your back.” Louis replies, climbing out of his jeans, until they’re both, finally, only in their pants. He gets his arms around Niall’s hips and pulls him close.

“Don’t care, don’t care, don’t care.” Niall mutters, trying his damndest to climb Louis like a fucking tree.

Louis gets Niall up on the desk on his back and trails a line of kisses down Niall’s throat. When he reaches Niall’s chest, he sucks a nipple into his mouth, teeth grazing the sensitive skin.

“Fuck, Lou.”

The don’t bother with too much foreplay, knowing their shit luck, someone will walk in right when Louis’s gotten inside Niall, needing something that’ll mean they won’t get to continue for the rest of the day. Louis gets Niall’s pants down his legs and appears with a lube bottle from one of his drawers.

“Did you just get that out of your desk?” Niall asks, smirking and leaning up on his forearms. “Cheeky shite.”

“What can I say?” Louis replies, grinning wolfishly down at Niall, flicking open the lube cap. “You aren’t the only one who imagined you over the desk.”

Niall laughs breathlessly and falls back onto the desk, bracing his feet on the edge of it.

Louis fingers Niall quickly, but carefully, starting with two fingers, scissoring them apart and searching for Niall’s prostate. Niall’s back arches in pleasure, and he moans out Louis’s name desperately.

“C’mon, Louis, please.” Niall begs, getting Louis’s wrist in his hand to pull his fingers out, now up to three. “Please, babe, need it.”

“Need a condom.” Louis says, wiping his fingers on his thigh, pulling open the desk drawers, shuffling things about inside before letting out an annoyed curse. “Fuck’s sake.”

“Don’t need it.”

Louis chuckles. “Yes we do. You wouldn’t be saying that if you didn’t want my prick in you.”

“Just,” Niall begins, sitting up on the desk, pulling Louis’s body between his legs. “Pull out or summat, c’mon.”

Louis makes an unsure noise, sighs, and then agrees, taking Niall’s face in his hands and kissing him. He lies Niall back on the desk, still kissing him, and takes hold of his cock, pressing the head to Niall’s hole. Niall whimpers when Louis slides in, so full and gagging with it. 

“You look so lovely, pet, spread out on my cock.” Louis hums into Niall’s mouth, sliding his cock deep into Niall’s body. “Love you so much.”

“Love you.” Niall replies, taking hiccupping breaths every time Louis thrusts into him. “Harder, please, Lou.”

Louis gets his arms under Niall’s knees and pulls him down so some of his arse is hanging off the edge of the table. It gives him better leverage to thrust into Niall faster and harder, and it gives him a better angle, one that gets his cock hitting Niall’s prostate on almost every thrust.

Niall’s so, so close to coming when a knock sounds at the study door, and he’s so desperate he thinks he might cry.

“Fuck off!” Louis calls, thrusting in a few more times before both he and Niall are coming, moaning their pleasure into each-others mouths. “Shit, fuck, Niall, god, I’m so sorry, I forgot to–”

“Guys, you need to come see what’s on the news.”

When Niall and Louis are both dressed, they find Zayn and Sean in the lounge room, staring at the television. The channel already on is showing the news, a story about the rises in the average April temperature in Australia, and Niall frowns in confusion, about to say something, when Zayn interrupts him.

“Just wait.”

“ _And today’s top story: lead witness in the Lambeth Criminal Organization case, Perrie Edwards, was found dead in her flat yesterday in a suspected suicide. Attorney General Jeremy Wright released a statement just a few hours ago remarking that her death is currently being investigated, however, no evidence has yet come to light indicating her death will be ruled anything but a suicide._ ”

“Fuck.” Niall says, holding onto Louis’s wrist, squeezing his hand tightly around it, looking for comfort. “There’s no way she’d kill herself. No way.”

Louis’s hand slides into Niall’s and squeezes it. The news anchor is talking about how the trial is going now, and Louis turns to Niall and says, “I’m going to call Harry and Liam.”

Niall nods and accepts the kiss Louis plants on the corner of his mouth.

“We’re… are we gonna die?” Sean asks. He looks so much younger than his actual age, and scared, so scared. Zayn doesn’t look too much better, and Niall shares the sentiment.

“No. Absolutely not. I swear to you.” Niall says, reaching out and taking a cheek in each hand. “Stay here, alright? I’m going to get Louise and bring her to you, and then I’m going to talk to Louis.”

They both nod.

-*-*-

“What do we do?” Niall asks, voice soft, arms wrapped around his legs, holding them against his chest, and his face in his knees. It’s the middle of the night, and neither him, nor Louis can sleep, and he doesn’t think the rest of the house is doing any better. “How do we keep everyone safe?”

Louis climbs behind Niall and uncurls his arms from around his legs, pulling him into his chest and holding him close. “It’s gonna be alright, my love, we’ll come up with something. We always do.”

“I think we should send Sean back to Ireland, with Zayn.” Niall says softly, into Louis’s neck. “And Louise.”

“Niall–”

“Louis, I don’t want to. You think I want to give up my baby? What if this person finds out she’s Tierney’s?” Niall’s frantic now, heart beating so hard in his chest it feels like it might break through his ribs.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to any of them.” Louis says, holding tighter onto Niall, resting his cheek over the top of Niall’s head. “They’re far safer with me. So are you.”

Niall doesn’t say anything else, just curls himself tighter into Louis’s arms, wrapping his arms around one of Louis’s. He feels safer in Louis’s arms than in a house surrounded by dozens of armed men.

“We need to make sure all our people are still _our people_.” Niall says when he feels like he can speak again, blinking up at Louis.

Louis nods his agreement. “We’ll start tomorrow.”

“And I think if we’re not sending them to Ireland, we should choose a safe house, as back up. One very few of our people know about, maybe a new one.” Niall says, threading his fingers through Louis’s, resting his face in Louis’s neck again. “Just in case. And all of us will go.”

Louis nods his head again.

Louise makes a noise from her cot, and when they look over, she’s awake, holding herself up and staring out at them.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Niall asks her, climbing out of Louis’s arms and off the bed. “You wanna get in on the cuddle?”

She holds her hands out from him, and he picks her up, taking her over to the bed and settling back in between Louis’s legs. Louis holds them both, leaning up against the headboard and closing his eyes.

They fall asleep like that, and the pain in his back when he wakes it is worth it.

-*-*-

They make a list of almost forty people they’re sure they can trust, sans anyone currently staying inside the house, after doing some digging and asking questions, and while they’d hoped for more, forty should do for the moment. They change schedules and jobs so the only people around the house and the people inside are the forty from the list.

It’s a bit of an adjustment, but suddenly the house doesn’t feel so tense when everyone knows they’ve been so thorough.

They start looking for a safe house after that. They choose a medium sized, four bedroom, detached house in a middle class suburb with a roller door garage, far enough from the CBD that most of the neighbours are younger families and house mates. They buy it under the name of one women on their list, single, middle aged, who for all intents and purposes _owns_ one of their front companies, and moves her into it.

Niall’s never seen the creation of a safe house before, Tierney never let him get into any of that, and he wonders about all the shit they go through for just one place.

Louis instructs the new owner, Mara, not to interact too much with the neighbours, just enough to not be suspicious. He also tells her they’re setting up surveillance inside and outside the house, and around the neighbourhood, and the ones inside won’t be turned on until they enter the house, but the ones outside will always be on.

Besides Mara, Louis and Niall only tell Liam and Harry and the man they’ve chosen to watch the camera, who Niall only knows as Helios. The “all-seeing” sun god. It seems pretty dead on, with his knowledge of computers and surveillance, and the bright, gold-blonde hair.

While Helios is setting up the surveillance program in one of Louis’s computers, in case he needs it, he tells Niall that he’s gotten a nickname too, even though he doesn’t know it.

Niall tells Louis about when they’re finally alone at the end of the day (at least as alone as you can be while one of you is feeding a six month old).

“They’re calling you Athena?” Louis asks with a chuckle, just coming out of the shower, towel around his hips and water dripping from his hair and down his skin. Niall’s cock twitches in interest when he looks up at him. “Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare and battle strategy. I see it.”

“They’ve given me the name of a female god. I’m not a girl.” Niall cries, pouting at Louis.

“So? Caro chose Hermes and Zayn chose Demeter.” Louis replies, pressing a kiss to Niall’s forehead, then Louise’s, before taking the towel from his hips and using it to dry his hair. Niall gets a look at his arse when he turns, and Niall’s reminded of how fucking spectacular it is. God, he hopes Louise passes out soon. “It’s not about the gender, it’s about the personality. Did you know Sean wants to be called Dionysus?”

Niall snorts. “Fitting. Though I thought Zayn might want to be the god of parties.”

Louis shrugs, leaning over the chest of drawers, pulling open the one where he keeps his underwear and socks. “So did I.”

Louise makes the makes the soft gurgling noise she always makes when she’s eating too fast, and Niall pulls the bottle out of her mouth and shifts her around so she’s laying against his chest, chin on his shoulder, over the towel he’d lain there. He pats her back gently until she burps; it’s not wet, and Niall’s glad, he’s too fucking lazy to take another shower. He goes back to feeding her, watching Louis slide his briefs up his thighs and over his hips.

“When I started with the whole Hades thing, it was just a street name, but then everyone else was picking it up.” Louis says, closing the drawer again and turning back to Niall. “It ended up sorta becoming our thing, and then we only used codenames.”

“I don’t mind it, the name, but if I had to pick for myself?” Niall thinks about for a moment, staring down at Louise’s lovely face. “Probably Narcissus.”

Louis laughs. “Hilarious. Seriously?”

Louise finishes the milk, and Niall burps her again before he starts to rock her to sleep. “One of the Erotes?”

Louis laughs again. “Stop being cheeky.”

“Alright, alright.” Niall replies, properly thinking about it this time, standing up to set Louise in her cot. She’s still awake, but just barely, blinking slowly, sleepily up at Niall. She’s out in seconds, and Niall tucks the blanket under her and kisses the top of her head. “I suppose Athena works. Though, I still feel like I’m a Pothos.”

Louis laughs again, sliding his arms around Niall’s waist and pressing a kiss to Niall’s throat. “You certainly are.”

“Pervert.” Niall replies, pulling away from Louis and climbing into the bed, watching Louis as he leans into Louise’s cot to kiss her gently on the forehead, where Niall had. “Come to bed.” Louis gives Niall a wolfish grin. “Not for that. We have to be up early to meet with Mazuki.”

Louis climbs into bed with Niall and curls in front of him, reaching back and pulling one of his arms over his side. “Love you, pet.”

“Love you, too, Lou.” Niall replies, pressing a kiss to Louis’s jaw before reaching behind him to turn off the bedside lamp.

-*-*-

Niall notices there’s someone watching the house a few weeks after they made the list. 

The house across the street had been up for sale for a couple months, and the people, a young couple, who’d moved in hadn’t seemed at all suspicious, but he’d seen faces at the curtains too many times to count, and that was suspicious.

He knocks on Louis’s study door and lets himself in. Louis’s at the desk, typing away on the laptop, two men Niall doesn’t know sitting in front of him. 

Because he doesn’t know the men, he puts his mask on and uses his business voice. “Apologies for the interruption, but I need to speak with Hades alone.”

Louis looks up at him, curiosity in his eyes, but not on his face. “Thank you very much for coming over, gentlemen. I will contact you if necessary.”

The two men nod and stand, and Louis leads them out of the house while Niall waits in the study. When he returns, Niall says, “Sorry for interrupting, Lou, but we’ve got a problem. Someone’s watching the house.”

Louis nods. “Across the road.” He says, sitting back down at his desk, pressing a few buttons and shutting his laptop.

“You know? Why didn’t you tell me?” Niall’s suddenly angry and he doesn’t even know why.

“I only figured it out this morning, pet, I’m not purposely leaving you in the dark.” Louis says, standing back up from his chair.

Niall sighs and runs his hands over his face. “I know, I’m sorry… I just…”

“You’re stressed, pet, I know.” Louis replies, taking Niall’s face in his hands and pressing their foreheads together. “We’re all very tense. We figure out who’s in the house spying on us, and then we take a break, do something fun. All of us.”

Niall nods and presses a soft kiss to the corner of Louis’s mouth before pulling away. “Should we call Helios? To hack into the realtor’s program?”

“He’s doing it as we speak.” Louis replies, nodding. “I need you to do something for me.”

Niall frowns, suspicious. “Depends what it is.”

“I’m sending Harry and Liam over to pose as neighbours, I need you to keep an eye on them from the front window, and see if you recognise the person who answers the door.” Louis replies, going to wall across from his desk, twisting the passcode lock on the wall that’s disguised as an old temperature switch. It opens the secret compartment in the wall, behind the panting, where Louis keeps the emergency weapons, and he takes out the Mossberg with the scope. Niall’s not great shakes with rifles, and Louis knows that, but he needs the scope. “Do not, under any circumstances, shoot, unless Harry and Liam are in immediate danger.”

Niall nods his understanding and takes the rifle from Louis.

“I’ll be waiting to hear from Helios in the office. Are Sean and Zayn still watching Louise?” Louis asks, shutting the gun safe again, changing the number the lock’s on. At Niall’s nod, Louis nods back, suddenly distracted, looking at something behind Niall’s back.

“Is the rifle necessary?” Harry says with an almost disgusted look on his face, holding a plate of muffins. He and Liam look like any other suburban white guy couple, and nothing at all like normal. It’s sort of freaking Niall out.

“Yes.” Louis says simply. He’s in business mode, and that’s probably freaking Niall out more than Harry and Liam in khaki pants and shirts, but not by much.

“Alright.” Harry says.

“Niall, remember to keep yourself hidden. I opened the window an hour ago, just a touch, in anticipation.”

Niall’s heart is hammering in his chest, and he wants Louis to stop with the fucking voice, but he doesn’t speak.

Niall sets up the rifle in the front room, putting one of the low tables in front of the window and using it as a rest. He makes sure the curtain hides the muzzle, but not too much that he can’t see out of the scope.

He watches Liam and Harry walk across the road through the scope, heart lodged in his throat, and waits.

He doesn’t recognise the woman who answers the door. She looks in her early twenties, and sort of pleased, when she listens to what Harry’s saying. It’s hard to tell with the scope, but Niall isn’t getting one of his bad vibes. When the man joins them, he puts his arm around the woman’s shoulders and smiles at her like a newly-wed would. No bad vibes. 

Niall doesn’t leave the window until Harry and Liam are back in the house, watching the couple take the plate back inside.

“Anything suspicious inside?” Niall asks, pulling the rifle away from the window.

Harry shakes his head. “No, and I think the wife is a snooper.”

Niall follows them back to Louis’s office, and Louis’s just hanging up the phone when they enter.

“Anything?” Louis asks first, taking the rifle back from Niall and putting it back in the safe.

“Nothing to report.” Liam says. “Harry thinks the wife might just be nosy.”

“I didn’t get anything either. You?”

Louis shakes his head. “The house is under the name Marie and Andrew Trudeau. Helios found a marriage certificate issued three months ago, Marie receives steady payments from a primary school and Andrew receives steady payments from a hospital. No unusual payments, and their identities are verified.”

“So, we’re just paranoid.”

“No,” Louis says firmly. “We’re careful.” He’s still got his business face on, and it’s scaring Niall.

“Guys, could you…” He says to Harry and Liam. They give him understanding smiles and leave the room. Niall takes a step toward Louis, and then another, and another, until they’re face to face and Niall takes Louis’s face in his hands, resting his forehead on Louis’s. “Need you to come back to me now. Hades made sure we were safe, and I need Louis back now.”

Louis’s eyes fall closed, and he lets out a long sigh, his whole body relaxing like he’s letting the tension out on a breath.

“There you go.”

“I’m sorry, pet.”

Niall kisses the corner of Louis’s mouth. “S’alright, Lou. C’mon, let’s go have some baby time. You look like you need it.”

-*-*-

Niall figures out he’s pregnant again a week after the incident with the neighbours. He’s not as sick as he was with Louise in the beginning, just a little nausea now and then, but he feels different, somehow. He can’t really explain it, but he knows.

Louis’s banned everyone but Liam and Harry from entering or leaving the house, and while Niall could probably sneak out during the night and come back without being caught, he decides to go to Harry anyway.

He finds Harry in he and Liam’s bedroom while Liam’s in the kitchen, holstering his gun and tying up his boots. Niall lets himself in and shuts the door behind himself, and Harry looks up at him through a curtain of his hair, confusion written on his face.

“Hey, what’s up, Niall?” Harry asks, finishing the tie on his boot and standing up straight, brushing his hair away from his face.

“Hey,” Niall replies, rubbing the back of his neck. “Can you, uh, do me a favour? And not tell Lou? Or Liam? Or like, anyone?”

Harry frowns, but he nods. “Go on.”

Niall pulls the money from his back pocket and places it in Harry’s hands, then says, “I need you to get me a… test.”

Harry’s frown is one of confusion now, and he tilts his head to the side. “Test? What kind of – oh.”

“Yeah.” Niall replies, taking his hands away from Harry’s, wringing them together nervously. “Can you?”

Harry looks like he wants to say something, but he reigns it in instead, nodding his head and sliding the money into his pocket. “I’ll get it. I might have to tell Liam, though? I can’t exactly take a secret trip to a pharmacy when we’re supposed to be working.”

“Just…” Niall rubs the back of his neck again, biting his bottom lip thoughtfully. “Tell him I asked you to get nappy rash cream. Which you should also get, because we’re almost out.”

Harry agrees, and Niall gives him a grateful hug, before he leaves the room to find Sean and Zayn, who are playing with Louise.

He spends most of the day waiting for Harry, tense and stressed, and really very nauseous, and he just wishes it would stop.

When Harry and Liam return, long after it’s gone dark, Niall takes the plastic bag with the pharmacy logo from Harry (well, more like snatches it), and disappears into the bathroom without another word. Harry’s bought two boxes of three tests (more than strictly necessary, but), as well as the nappy rash, and Niall takes one of the boxes out, ripping it open and pulling all three tests out.

Niall’s never used one before, so he reads the instructions, and then starts. He pees on all three tests, puts the caps back on and sets them on the counter to wait for two minutes. He taps on the counter nervously, trying desperately to think about anything else but what’s sitting in front of him. He ignores Louis when he knocks on the door, begging for a piss, and just keeps waiting.

All three have double lines.

Niall checks the instructions again, because he can’t remember if it means he is pregnant or he isn’t, and it confirms his suspicions.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m so fucked.”

 _At least you were_ , an unhelpful voice points out in his head.

“Niall, pet? Are you alright in there?” Louis asks, banging on the door. Niall can’t do anything more than make a soft whimpering noise and rest his forehead on the cool glass of the mirror. He thinks he’s going to be sick. The doorknob turns back and forth, and Louis says, “Babe, what’s going on? Let me in.”

Niall realises that if he doesn’t let Louis in, even if he replies, Louis’s going to break down the door. He reaches out to unlock it and Louis comes barging in.

“What’s going on, pet?”

Niall doesn’t say anything, he just bangs his head on the mirror and whines pitifully.

He knows when Louis notices the tests. He goes quiet, and the room turns tense.

“Fuck.” Louis says, reaching out for the tests. “Fuck.”

“I blame it on the fucking desk.” Niall says when he can’t think of anything else to say. “Are you mad?”

“If was mad at anyone,” Louis says, dropping the tests back on the sink and turning Niall around by his shoulders. He takes Niall’s face in his hands, fingers cold against Niall’s skin, and presses their foreheads together. “I’d be mad at myself. But I’m not.”

Niall lets go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“I think it’s time we go into the safe house.”

Niall wants to disagree, he protected himself just fine when he was pregnant the first time, but the look on Louis face tells him arguing is futile. “Alright.”

-*-*-

Niall has a bad nightmare the first night in the safe house. 

He dreams Tierney’s come back to life, and he kills Louis, slits Zayn and Sean’s throats and shoots Niall in the stomach. As Niall’s laying there, bleeding out, he takes Louise from her cot and laughs.

_“You think you can keep her from me?”_

Niall wakes up screaming for the first time in months. He can hear people bursting into the room, but none of it registers, he’s too freaked out to realise he’s safe.

“Niall, Niall, calm down.” Louis says, voice soft next Niall.

Niall feels frantic, heart beating a mile a minute, and he reaches over the bed post, to make sure his gun’s still there.

“Guys, it’s fine, can you leave the room?”

Louise starts screaming, like she’s feeding off Niall’s fear, and it snaps Niall out of it. He falls when he climbs off the bed, legs shaky, but he picks himself up and goes to Louise, picking her up from her cot and holding her against his chest, bouncing her until she calms down.

“It’s alright, leanbh, it’s alright. I’m sorry I scared you. I’m sorry.” Niall whispers to her, holding the back of her he gently, breathing in the smell of her. It’s helping. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Are you alright, pet?” Louis asks, suddenly in front of Niall. He reaches out to touch Niall’s shoulder, and Niall flinches away, unable to stop himself. “Sorry, Niall.” Louis says, pulling his arm back like he’s been burnt.

“It’s… it’s okay, I’m just… give me a minute.”

Louis nods.

Niall sits in the armchair near Louise’s cot and rocks her back to sleep before he stares up at Louis and says, “This is going to sound nuts, but I think, maybe, that Tierney might be alive.”

Louis stares at Niall sort of blankly for a few seconds, then frowns, deep lines setting above his brow. “He’s dead, Niall.”

“Are you sure? Absolutely positive? Did you see it? See his body? How do we know he actually did die?” Niall asks, that frantic energy back in his body again. Louise snuffles in her sleep, like she’s about to wake again, and Niall takes deep breaths, calming himself down. “This is Tierney we’re talking about.”

Louis doesn’t saying anything in reply, thinking. “Whoever it is, I won’t let them hurt you, I swear it. Any of you.”

Niall takes a slow breath and holds out his hand for Louis. Louis takes it and sits on the arm of the chair, resting his cheek over Niall’s head and reaching down to run his fingers over Louise’s head.

“I love you, Niall, and I’m not gonna let anything happen to us.” 

“I love you, too.”

-*-*-

Niall wakes from another nightmare confused, and sort of dazed, unsure where he is and why he can’t see anything. It’s weird, unlike any of his normal bad dreams, and he forgets it almost instantly. He does remember how it made him feel: dirty, and sort of shivery.

He’s laying on his back, and Louis’s pressed into his side, a gentle but possessive hand over Louis’s belly, the small bump beginning to form above Niall’s pelvis. The touch makes Niall squirm, and not in a good way, so he pulls out of Louis’s arms and sits on the edge of the bed, face in his hands.

Louis must have felt Niall move and the bed shift, because he’s awake and sitting behind Niall. He doesn’t touch him, just sits there, breathing slowly, before he says, “What’s going on, pet? You’ve had nightmares every night for the last week.”

When Niall pulls his hands away from his face he realises he’s been crying, hands wet with his tears and cheeks cold. “I don’t know.” He replies, wiping his hands on the bedsheets. “I don’t… it doesn’t… this house doesn’t feel right. It… something feels wrong.”

“Can I…?” Niall feels Louis’s hand, so close to his back, and he takes a deep breath, before he nods. Louis curls his arms around Niall’s waist, pressing his front to Niall’s back, resting his face in Niall’s throat. It still makes Niall feel weird, but it doesn’t make him want to throw up.

“We should go back to the house. I don’t think it’s safer here. Liam and Harry are at the house. Caro and Marcus are next door. It’s not… something’s wrong here. I don’t know what… I don’t like it here, Lou.”

Louis smooths his hands over Niall’s chest and belly to calm him, kissing his shoulder. “I know, my love, I know.”

“I wanna go _home_.” Niall whispers.

“I know, pet.” Louis’s voice is soft and soothing, and it calms Niall’s frayed nerves.

Niall holds Louis’s hands tight around him for a moment, then pulls them back, standing. “I have to… I have to go check.”

Louis looks like he has no idea what Niall’s saying (hell, Niall doesn’t either), but he nods anyway, watching Niall go.

Niall checks that all the windows and doors are locked, checks nothing’s been tampered with, then checks everyone’s where they should be. 

Mara had caught him checking in on her a couple days before, and she’d been a bit confused, but allowed it, letting him check the windows in her bedroom and the windows in her ensuite before he walked back out again. The next night she’d been asleep when he’d done it, but he must have moved something, because she’d known about it the next night.

He checks the room he, Louis and Louise are in next, making sure everything’s locked and Louise is asleep, not meeting Louis’s eyes as he stares up at him from the bed.

He moves on to Zayn’s room. Zayn’s not in his bed, and the window’s open, and Niall starts to panic, calling out his name.

“Zayn? Zayn?”

He checks under the bed and in the cupboard, heart hammering in his chest, then checks the window for signs of a break in. It looks like it hasn’t been tampered with, the lock still attached and no broken glass or blood, but it does nothing to ease his worry.

“Zayn? Zayn?”

“Niall, what’s wrong?” Louis asks from the doorway, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Zayn, he’s not here.”

“Did you check the lounge room?” Niall nods franticly. “The kitchen?” Niall nods again. “Did you check Sean’s room?”

Niall pushes past Louis and back into the hallway, opening the door across the room, into Sean’s room.

Zayn and Sean are passed out on the floor, in a nest of pillows and blankets, and the room smells like booze and weed. Niall’s so relieved he’s okay he’s not angry that they somehow snuck weed into the house when he specifically told them not to.

Sean must have sensed Niall’s presence, because he blinks his eyes open and stares up at Niall in confusion. “Everyfin’ ‘right?”

“Yeah, love, go back to sleep.”

Sean nods his head and his eyes fall shut again as he nuzzles his face into Zayn’s shoulder.

Niall stares at them for a while, heart rate slowing back to normal, before he shuts the open window and locks it, pulling the curtains down so they don’t wake when the sun comes up.

He does the same to the window in Zayn’s room before going back to his, where Louis is, waiting.

“They alright?”

“Passed out in Sean’s room.” Niall asks, closing the door with a soft click and leaning against the back of it heavily. “I don’t even know _where_ they got the weed and the alcohol.”

Louis looks sheepish. “I got them the weed. I’m sorry, I know you told me not to. You know they can be annoyingly persistent. As for the alcohol, I think they may have gotten into Mara’s liquor cabinet.”

Niall sighs and falls onto the edge of the bed, putting his face in his hands. “I’m not angry. I’m just glad they’re okay.”

“This stress is not good for you, or the baby.” Louis says, kneeling on the carpet in front of Niall, taking his hands away from his face.

“Can’t help it.” 

“I know, pet.” Louis replies, curling his hands around Niall’s cheeks, pressing their foreheads together. “I’m sorry you’re feeling like this.”

Niall accepts the kiss in the corner of his mouth, then agrees to go back to bed, huddling in Louis’s arms, face pressed into his shirt, breathing in his smell.

_You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay_

Niall doesn’t feel okay.

-*-*-

Niall finds Louis in their bedroom reading a book he’d found in the case in the hallway, _Hades_ by Candice Fox, sitting up against the headboard with his glasses on. “I’m having a freak out.” He admits. When Louis looks up curiously, Niall continues. “A normal relationship freak out.”

Louis puts the book and his glasses on the bedside table, and moves to the edge of the bed, pulling Niall between his legs “What’s wrong?”

“It’s stupid.” Louis kisses Niall’s knuckles, a look on his face like he’s asking Niall to continue without saying anything at all. “I know we’ve had a lot – I can’t help… fuck. We haven’t had sex since I told you I was pregnant. And I know we’ve had a lot going on, but I can’t help feeling like… I dunno, you don’t want to anymore? Which is stupid, I know, we had sex while I was pregnant with Louise, I just… fuck, I’m not making any sense, am I?”

Louis pulls Niall into his lap carefully and kisses the corner of his mouth. “You’re making complete sense. I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t want to. There has been a lot going on, but we should’ve talked about it.” Louis smooths his hands down Niall’s back. “You’ve been having more nightmares than usual, and I was worried about you, about giving you flashbacks or… I dunno. I should have said something.”

Niall slides his arms around Louis shoulders and cups the back of his neck in one hand. “Yeah, you should’ve, but I forgive you.” He presses their foreheads together, closes his eyes and sighs softly. “All of this… everything that’s happening, it can tear us apart if we let it, you know?”

Louis nods, an agreeing hum leaving his mouth as he continues to stroke Niall’s back. “I won’t let anyone or anything take you away from me. I love you a lot, pet. More than I thought I could love anyone.”

“I love you, too.” Niall whispers.

He brushes his nose against Louis’s and presses a soft kiss to his mouth, gentle and chaste. He’s happy to leave it at that, go back to Louise and the boys in the lounge room, but Louis deepens the kiss, and Niall can’t say he doesn’t want it. 

He threads his fingers into the hair at the base of Louis’s skull and licks into his mouth, his cock hardening in his jeans. He wants to take it further, wants to get them both naked, but he likes this, kissing Louis and licking the bitter of tea from his tongue. 

“Where’s Louise?” Louis asks softly, reaching up to run his fingers through Niall’s fringe.

“With Zayn and Sean. We’ve got a half an hour or so until they give her back so they can go smoke.” Niall replies, getting his hands under Louis’s shirt, lifting it over his head and throwing it towards the dirty washing basket. “D’you want to?”

“Fuck, yes.” Louis replies, surging up to kiss Niall again, wrapping an arm around his back and bracing the other on the mattress as he turns them around, laying Niall on his back. “I never stopped wanting to.”

“Good.”

Through kisses, Niall and Louis get their clothes off, and Niall gets the lube from the drawer, handing it over to Louis. Louis fingers Niall quickly, they’re not sure how long they’ll get before Sean and Zayn will bring Louise back, and then he gets Niall on his back, against the pillows.

“C’mon, c’mon.” Niall whines, tugging Louis down, towards himself, pressing a desperate kiss to the corner of Louis’s mouth. It’s a joint effort, but they get Louis’s cock into Niall, finally.

They don’t get to finish before someone’s knocking on the door, but they ignore it until they’re both coming.

After a moment of panting into each other’s mouths, Niall climbs out from under Louis, off the bed, and pulls on the closest pair of briefs lying on the floor (he thinks it might be Louis’s, it’s a little too tight in the hips), before opening the door and taking Louise from Sean, who’s got a cheeky grin on his face.

“Have fun?”

“Shut up,” Niall tells him, cheeks heating. He can feel Louis’s come wetting his thighs and it doesn’t make his blush any better. “Go away.”

When Sean’s gone, Niall shuts the door again, puts Louise into her cot and pulls the briefs off again, climbing back into bed with Louis.

“It’s like living in a house with your siblings.” Niall says, curling himself up in Louis’s arms. “Your come was sliding down my thigh, it was gross.”

Louis snorts out a laugh, and then he doesn’t stop, and Niall’s joining in.

-*-*-

Niall wakes to shuffling and strange noises somewhere in the house. He doesn’t even think before he’s sitting up in bed, taking his gun and following the noises. Louis follows him, gun in hand, and the noises lead them into the front hallway, where too men are carrying Zayn and Sean, both unconscious, out the door.

“Stop!” Niall yells, aiming at the man with Sean, while Louis aims at the man with Zayn.

At Niall’s voice, they both turn around, almost identical grins on their faces. The one with Zayn says, “He doesn’t want you yet. Take ‘em out.”

There’s a sharp pain in the back of Niall’s head, and everything goes black.

He doesn’t know how long he’s out for when he wakes. Minutes? Hours? But he knows the boys are gone.

He pushes himself to his feet while Louis’s getting his bearings, going into their bedroom to check on Louise. She’s still asleep in her cot, and Niall feels one weight lift off his shoulders.

“Niall!”

Niall goes running at Louis’s voice, finding him in the doorway of Mara’s bedroom. 

Her eyes. God, her eyes. Open wide at the shock of death, though it must have been hours ago.

There’s a gash over her throat, and blood drying over her skin and pyjamas.

Niall leaves the door way, hunches over with his hand against the wall, holding himself up, and vomits. 

He’s never seen a dead body before.

He’s seen copious amounts of injuries.

But no one’s been dead. Especially not someone he’s cared for.

He can hear Louis talking on his phone, urgent and quiet. He can’t hear the words, but Niall knows he’s calling someone in to clean up Mara’s body.

Louis gives Niall a glass of water, which he takes gratefully as Louis pads around Mara and the blood to get to the paper stuck to the mirror.

“ _This is a game of three. Others will be terminated_.”

“It’s Tierney.” Niall says, vomiting again. He knows it’s Tierney. It’s the same bollocks he sent to his other victims. “It’s Tierney, he’s alive.”

“How do you know?” Louis asks, wiping Niall’s face with a towel he’s appeared out of nowhere.

“I know. I know.” Niall replies, gulping down the water and swapping the glass for the towel. He wipes his face, then drops the towel on the floor, where he’d vomited. “We have to go get them.”

“We will. We’ll find them.”

“How?”

Louis hugs Niall, getting a hand around the back of Niall’s skull and pressing Niall’s face into his throat. “We’ve got someone. They’re coming now.” Louis strokes Niall’s hair. “They’re all coming.”

-*-*-

The house is filled in no time, and they’re not really subtle about it, but it’s not about being subtle anymore. They’ve been here, they’ve taken Zayn and Sean, they’ve killed Mara. The jig is up.

Harry and Liam arrive first, and Caroline follows them, though she doesn’t stay, taking Louise and leaving again. It hurts Niall’s heart to see her go, to be without her, but she’s safer away from him right now. Caroline’s going to take her to Oxfordshire, where Caroline’s family is. She’ll be safe there.

Niall’s goodbye takes a long time, and he’s still crying when she’s gone.

“I know, pet, I know. You’ve got to be strong. You’ll see her again soon, I swear it.” Louis says, holding Niall in the garage as Caroline drives away. There are lights on in other houses, curious faces peeking out of windows, and Niall wishes they’d just fuck of back to sleep. If they’re not careful, they’ll get police knocking on the door. They really don’t need that right now.

Once Niall’s calmed down, Louis introduces him to Eris, Coeus and Menoetius. Eris and Menoetius clean messes for Louis, and Coeus is who they go to when they need to find someone or something. 

One of Louis’s guards, Homados, jokingly calls Coeus Sherlock.

Niall gets why when Coeus starts.

He’s intelligent, and observant, and he’s incredible to watch. There’s a boot print in Mara’s blood, and Coeus can tell his shoe size (11) and height (between five-ten and six feet). He can also tell by the way Mara’s throat is gashed that whoever did it was left handed. 

Niall can’t take the blood anymore, stomach rolling, so he leaves the room. 

Louise’s favourite soft toy, a pale blue whale the size of Niall’s hand, is lying on the floor next to he and Louis’s bed, and Niall picks it up. It must have been dropped on Caroline’s rush to get out, and Niall presses it against his chest.

Something in Louise’s cot catches Niall’s eye, a scrap of paper tucked under her blanket, and he picks it up, unfolding it.

_Come alone or I take what’s mine._

There’s an address underneath, somewhere out in the Bexley sticks, and Niall’s heart stops. It’s Tierney’s handwriting, like the last note, but it confuses him. The last note had said that Louis was a third of the game Tierney wanted them to play, but now he wants Niall alone?

He goes back into Mara’s room, takes Louis by the wrist and drags him into the bathroom, locking the door. He shows Louis the note, holding his finger up to keep him quiet.

“You can’t.” Louis whispers harshly.

“I’m not going to.” Niall replies, taking the note back, ripping it in half over and over again until it’s in tiny pieces, putting it in the toilet and flushing it. “I’m going to take one of the trackers, and you’re going to follow no less than fifteen minutes after me.”

“Ni-”

“Please, Lou. Just… We’ve got an address. I told you, I didn’t leave without you knowing. Promise me you’ll wait before you follow me.”

Louis curls his hand around Niall’s cheek, pressing their foreheads together, and nods. “I promise.”

Niall doesn’t take his time, he doesn’t think he has any. He changes out of his pyjamas, straps a gun holster around his chest, another against his hip, and a sheath against his calf, under his jeans. 

Tierney likes gun play, likes the risk of death, his own and others. He’ll let Niall keep them, and Niall will use them.

The tracker Louis gives Niall is round, and about the size of his thumb nail, and Niall tucks it into the back pocket of his jeans after its been turned on. 

“Fifteen minutes.” Niall makes Louis promise before he leaves in Mara’s car.

“Fifteen minutes.” Louis agrees.

-*-*-

It’s almost sunrise when Niall reaches the address in Bexley, an old, broken down warehouse with broken windows on the bank of the Thames, with nothing else around for miles. The sky is grey, with just a peak of golden on the horizon, and its cold, and it all sets Niall’s teeth on edge.

There’s another car inside the gate, and Niall makes it a point to park Mara’s car in a way that’ll make it hard for the other car to be moved.

There’s another note taped to the entrance, and Niall pulls it off the door, unfolding it.

 _Office_.

Niall takes the gun from his hip out of the holster, removing the magazine clip, checking the bullets inside and clicking it back in.

Inside, there are signs that direct him towards the office, left over from when the warehouse was still up and running, and Niall follows them up two flights of stairs and down a long corridor. 

From the hallway, all Niall can see in the room is Sean and Zayn, tied to chairs with tape over their mouths.

The hair on the back of Niall’s neck stands up, and when he turns around, gun still held in front of him, there’s a man Niall doesn’t recognise behind him. He’s holding a glock in his hands, pointed at Niall’s head, and they stand like that until someone speaks from the room.

“Enough.”

Niall shivers at the sound, a feeling like tiny shards of glass running down his spine.

The man in front of him lowers his gun and holsters it. Only then does Niall turn to look at Tierney.

“Jack.” Niall says, gun trained on Tierney’s heart.

“Niall.” Tierney replies. He’s got his arms crossed over his chest, and he looks vexed, like he doesn’t understand why Niall can’t trust him enough to lower his gun. “Would you like to come in? We have lots of things to talk about.”

“How many others in the building?” Niall asks, ignoring Tierney.

“Tommy, here. That’s all.”

Niall scoffs, moving back to the side a bit, so he can see both Tierney and the other guy, Tommy, and the boys in the room. “You think I believe you and this scrawny little Bieber looking motherfucker can overpower two teenage boys? Where’s the other two who took ‘em?”

“Gone. If you’d like, I could send Tommy away?”

“No.” Niall says. “Tommy-lad stays here. Inside the office.”

Tommy looks over at Tierney, and Niall watches him nod before they both step into the room. Niall follows, shutting and locking the door behind him. 

Tierney’s given Niall too much power, and Niall wants to know why.

Sean’s unconscious, but Zayn’s awake and staring at Niall with wide eyes, fresh blood trickling down the side of his face from a wound at his hair line. It looks like he’s been hit with the butt of a gun. Sean’s got a bruise blossoming under one eyes, and another on his chin. 

Tierney’s got his own bruise on his chin, and when Niall looks back at the boys, both of their knuckles are raw and bleeding. They didn’t give up without a fight.

Niall doesn’t bother asking Tierney to untie Zayn and Sean. He’s playing a game; a game Niall won’t join. He won’t ask, but he’ll kill Tierney and Tommy to get them free if he has to. He might just kill Tierney for fun.

“So, what shall we talk about? The weather? Football? How about politics; you used to love to talk about politics. You’d always take it out on me when it didn’t go the way you wanted it to. Maybe it’s your turn, huh?”

Tierney’s got this almost manic smile on his face, like he’s absolutely lost it, and Niall does _not_ like it. “When did you become so bold? Maybe it’s got something to do with the dick you’ve been taking. Hades always was a cheeky one.”

“I was a wolf in sheepskin, Tierney. You had the wolf scared to run once, but he isn’t anymore.”

“Are you so sure?”

Suddenly, one of the windows break with a loud crash, and a bullet grazes Niall’s shoulder before imbedding itself in the wall. It hurts like a motherfucker, and Niall can feel the warm wet of blood, but he doesn’t flinch. He’s standing up for himself for the first time since he met Jackson Tierney, and he won’t back down.

Looks like Tierney’s brought a sniper.

“I’m sure.” Niall says. His voice doesn’t waver, and his hands don’t shake, and he stares at Tierney with hard eyes, shooting Tommy as payback, right where Niall had been shot. Since the last time Niall had shot someone, his aim had gotten much better.

Unlike Niall, Tommy howls in pain.

“Look at you, standing there as bold as brass. Finally grow some balls, Nialler?”

Niall’s heart skips a beat at the nick name, and it makes him want to throw up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Niall sees Sean open his eyes and wave a free hand at Niall, still behind his back, so Niall knows he’s untied himself. Clever boy.

“I took yours when I left, Jackie-boy.” Niall replies, grinning toothily at Tierney. “I keep them on a key chain.”

Tierney’s manic smile morphs into a frown. Guess Niall’s cheek has gotten old.

Niall manages to duck out of the way this time, expecting the bullet when he hears the glass break. It’s a close thing. This one would have gotten his knee cap, and he’d’ve lost all of his power.

“Missed me.” Niall says, giving Sean a quick, pointed look, before blinking over at Zayn and moving to the other wall, so Tierney and Tommy’s backs are facing the boys. “This is getting really old. So, what shall we talk about? How about the fact I ratted you out to Hades _and_ the bobby?” Out of the corner of his eyes, Niall can see Sean’s understood what he wants, and is untying Zayn carefully, trying not to make any sound, or move too fast to alert the other two men. “Or maybe we should talk about how you faked your death? Let me guess. Barracks.”

“Didn’t cost a lot. He didn’t really want the money, but he took it anyway.” Tierney replies.

Niall stares at Sean pointedly and taps his gun when Sean’s gotten Zayn free, and he nods. 

“He seemed like a cunt.”

Zayn and Sean are almost in unison as they reach for the guns Tierney and Tommy have in their holsters, backing up so they can’t be seen out the windows, guns held up. Niall swells up with something that can only be described as fatherly pride, and he smirks at Tierney.

“Even with your sniper friend, I like our odds.” Tierney is staring at Niall in utter disbelief and it makes Niall laugh. “God, you really think I spent six years with you and learnt nothing? And these boys? They’re young, but they’re smart. Smarter than you’ll ever be.”

Sean rips the tape off his mouth and spits on his father. “I know you killed my mum.”

“Your mother was a whore.” Tierney sneers, suddenly lunging at Sean.

Niall’s closer to Tierney, and he really doesn’t want Sean responsible for his own father’s death, so he tackles Tierney to the ground, straddling his chest, knees bracketing Tierney’s arms to his chest.

“Sean is your _son_.” Niall says, digging the barrel of his gun into Tierney’s chest. “What were you going to do? Kill him? Kill your only son?”

“He’s fucking useless, isn’t he?” Tierney says, then grins manically again. “And he’s not my only kid, is he Nialler? Got me little girl tucked away somewhere, don’t you? Once we’re done here, I’ll be off to look for her.”

Tierney starts to buck Niall off, and he almost succeeds, but Niall’s too quick, pulling the trigger.

-*-*-

Louis, Harry, Liam and other members of their team burst in just after, before Niall’s brain has fully clicked. There’s blood on his face, clothes and hands, and Tierney’s wide, unseeing eyes are staring up at him. Niall falls to the side when he realises what he’s done and vomits onto the floor.

“Niall?”

Louis’s voice is soothing, and he’s got a hand running through Niall’s hair.

Niall’s killed someone.

Niall’s killed Tierney.

Niall vomits again.

“Sean? Zayn?” Niall asks Louis when he finally stops retching.

“They’re fine.” Louis says, pulling Niall to his feet and wiping the blood off of Niall’s face with his jumper. He doesn’t ask if Niall’s okay, he’s been through this before, he knows he isn’t. “We have to get out of here, pet.” Niall looks down at Tierney’s body. “Eris and Menoetius will clean up, we have to go.”

“Louise.”

“Yeah, we need to go get Louise. But we have to clean you up first.”

Niall nods slowly. He feels lost.

“The sniper, guys, there was a sniper.” Zayn says from the other side of the room. Niall turns to stare out the window. There had been a sniper, but where did they go? Did they run when Niall, Zayn and Sean overpowered Tierney and Tommy? Where had they been? The nearest building was on the other side of the Thames

“Burn it down.”

Louis turns and frowns at Niall. “What?”

“The building. Burn it down. After Eris and Menoetius have gotten rid of the bodies, burn the place down. There’s too much evidence. Fingerprints. Blood.”

“They’ll take care of it, pet, promise. C’mon.”

Niall lets himself be led out of the room and into the corridor. Harry stays behind to make sure the clean-up job gets done right, but Liam goes with Niall, Louis and the boys.

They takes the SUV nearest to the entrance, and Liam drives with Sean in the passenger while Louis sits in the back with Niall and Zayn.

The blood’s started to dry on Niall’s skin, and it cracks when he moves, tiny pieces flaking off in some places.

“I killed someone.” Niall says, softly, disbelieving. He actually, truly, stopped someone’s heart.

“I know. It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know anymore.”

-*-*-

Someone must have called Caroline before they left Bexley, because once Niall’s gotten out of the shower, clean from the blood and sweat, skin flushed and raw, she’s there, holding Louise in her arms and smiling sympathetically. 

Niall takes Louise so quickly he jostles her awake, but she doesn’t fuss, she simply curls into him and gets her hands in his shirt.

She’s so small and warm, and his heart breaks. What if she knew what he’d done? What if she knew he’d killed her father?

Niall feels sick at the thought.

He takes Louise to he and Louis’s bedroom and lies down with her still in his arms. They’re back in Louis’s house, but it doesn’t feel like home anymore. Everything feels wrong to Niall.

He wants to leave. He wants to go home, to Ireland. He wants to be with his family.

“Can I come with you?” Louis asks when Niall tells him he wants to go home.

He looks so earnest and sincere, that all Niall can do is nod, throat tight as tears wet his face, and whisper, “Please.”


End file.
